'5 Broken Cameras' Director Emad Burnat: 'It's Not Normal For A Human To Be Treated Like This'
US immigration officials briefly detained the Palestinian director of the Oscar-nominated documentary 5 Broken Cameras on his way into Los Angeles for Sunday's Academy Awards.
Emad Burnat said that when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport from Turkey with his wife and eight-year-old son late on Tuesday, he was told he did not have the proper proof that he was a nominee.
"Last night, on my way from Turkey to Los Angeles ... my family and I were held at US immigration for about an hour and questioned about the purpose of my visit to the United States," he said in a statement.
"Although this was an unpleasant experience, this is a daily occurrence for Palestinians, every single day, throughout the West Bank."
Burnat had earlier spent nearly six hours at an Israeli checkpoint as he attempted to drive to Amman to catch his flight to the US.
His detention in the US was first reported by filmmaker Michael Moore, a friend of Burnat's, who said he received an urgent text message from Burnat from a holding pen at the airport.
According to Moore's blog post, the director told Burnat to give Homeland Security his name and cell phone number to have him explain why Burnat was in the US.
Burnat had just been in the US two weeks earlier doing interviews alongside his co-director, Israeli activist Guy Davidi.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not comment on the case but said in a statement that it "strives to treat all travellers with respect and in a professional manner, while maintaining the focus of our mission to protect all citizens and visitors in the United States.
"Travellers may be referred for further inspection for a variety of reasons to include identity verification, intent of travel, and confirmation of admissibility."
5 Broken Cameras features footage Burnat shot in his occupied West Bank village, Bilin - from everyday activities with his family to protests against the occupation and shootings.
The title refers to the number of smashed cameras since he began filming.
ALJ AZEERA
0 comments:
Post a Comment